Summary Of Superman And Me By Sherman Alexie

Improved Essays
The Resilient Thrive of a Native
In all three compositions: the short story Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, the painting Contemporary Sioux Indian by James Bama, and the poem Without Title by Diane Glancy all exemplify the resiliency in modern Native American culture. Ever since the British came to America the Native American culture has been distorted. Without obtaining resiliency as a Native American it is tough to succeed in Americas modern society.
In the short story, superman and me, Sherman Alexie portrays his childhood days as a Native American growing up in a “fenced” reservation. Sherman Alexie was told by his peers to never raise

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A chapter of American history that often remains unsaid and unexplored is what the Native American population experienced in a very short period of time as a consequence of the deprivation of their lands by the European settlers. They not only lost their physical place, where they lived for generations but they were also forced to change their lifestyle and identity: brutally obligated by coercion to forget their own language and culture and transform themselves in “true Anglo Americans”, or better, Americans ready to contribute as “labor force” to the future of the nation and economy. In 1879, Captain Richard Pratt while viciously supporting the idea that the Indian Americans had to completely assimilate the “white man” culture, established…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sherman Alexie Father

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sherman Alexie Sherman Alexie was born to write. Being brought into this world with a heart wrenching disease, having alcoholic parents, and a surgery that could have possibly made it impossible for him to transfer his deep and poetic thoughts into words. However, Sherman was able to overcome all the medical cases, and climb the mountain of success. He is now able to put all of his dreams and experiences into the process of writing incredible stories. Sherman Alexie uses his rough upbringing, and internal battles to help influence all of his most famous creations, appealing to academic audiences.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native ways of keeping culture alive must be revitalized, as colonization was detrimental but did not destroy everything. Indigenous relationships with the peopled universe emphasize environmental values and a way of being that holds strong to cultural values. Colonizers desperately tried to erase this deeply rooted culture, but it is hard to erase a link so completely tied to the land. Deeply embedded in each native person’s pedagogy is history, collective trauma, the reverberating effects of genocide and colonization, and yet Native peoples are resilient, proving strength time and time again.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The identity issues that so many Native Americans face are often addressed and investigated by scholars, but rarely does the average person get an insight on this matter with the quality found in Sherman Alexie’s 1991 The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Alexie’s life experiences as a Native American allow for a very authentic retelling that makes academic studies seem sterile in comparison. Through this story, the main character recounts many experiences he’s had relevant to his identity, spanning things such as discrimination, relationships, and jobs. The theme of this story is the identity crisis of the Native Americans.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Superman and me” and “One Writer’s Beginnings” are both outstanding essays. They are quite similar to each other although they still have their differences. Alexie Sherman, the author of "Superman and me", is a Native American who took an interest in reading and later became a novelist, short story writer, poet, and filmmaker. With little money to spend, he was raised on a reservation with his two parents. His father, who was an avid reader, still managed to gain enough money to buy books to entertain themselves.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Louise Eldrich’s Dear John Wayne she attempts to combat this one-sidedness when it comes to Native Americans. In this poem Eldrich attempts to lift some of the misconceptions associated with Native Americans by using subtle symbolism and overt…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native American people have seen their bloodshed, they have undergone oppression and discrimination, they have been underestimated and misunderstood by the dominant population they have been through conflict, diseases and policies of discrimination. Nevertheless, this has only made Native American people more resilient, spiritual, and proud of their culture but these traumas that took place many generations ago continue to impact the lives of Native Americans; this concept is referred to as historical trauma. Historical trauma or intergenerational trauma has been proven to affect offsprings, not only psychologically, environmentally, or by social means but also biologically. Epigenetics is described as things that are passed on other than…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sherman Alexie Analysis

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr., grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He is a Spokane-Coeur d'Alene novelist, short story writer, poet, and filmmaker. Alexie uses his personal experiences to show what his life was like on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpoint, Washington. Alexie and Junior, both have had similar medical experiences, family support, and cultural experiences.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The loss of hope and subsequent failure to pursue hope means that the light at the end of the tunnel no longer exists in times of trouble and grief. Arnold Spirit lives in such a community that has abandoned chasing hope because it appears to be a folly that exists only in the white-man’s world. The Spokane people had forgotten that without hope the difficult times seem to have no end and the good times are simply fleeting to the big picture. One of the largest factors eroding the hope of the Native American people is the false sovereignty that is attributed to their nations by the Federal government. Although intended to be free and separate nations within the borders of the United States, Native American tribes are being forced to make radical economic decisions to “[protect] the future sovereignty and vitality of Native America” (Neath 709).…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In summation, the Native Americans have traveled down a long road filled with trials. Many were lost along the way, but the ones who remain are ever stronger. Finally, the majority of these native peoples of the Americas can say they are not being persecuted anymore,…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This period was from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century and was the height of the prohibition of Native cultures. This prohibition consisted of the outlaw of cultural dances and potlatches for Native Americans. This time in history hindered cultural expression, though surprisingly, some did continue to flourish. Consequently, during the post reservation period, after World War II, an extraordinary change took place for the native cultures of North America.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In recent times, many academic scholars and researchers have given great attention to the breakdown of the Native American culture. Ancient traditions that were once part of everyday life is slowly fading away for many amongst this group of people as a result of acculturation and assimilation. This paper seeks to explore the book, “Genocide of the Mind,” written by, Marijo Moore, in order to gain a better understanding of the genocide of Native American identity. This paper will also explore the hardships and challenges that Native Americans endured in the past and still continue to face today as a minority group in America. Today, many people have very little knowledge regarding Native Americans and their existing tribes within the United…

    • 2678 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As soon as a person turns five years old they are expected to go to school and stay in school until they have obtained a degree; in fact, in the state of California, kids are required to attend school up until high school. However, education is not a requirement in all parts of the world, like developing countries for example, therefore it may be harder for people in that situation to become literate. In Frederick Douglass’ “Learning to Read and Write” and Sherman Alexie’s “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” both authors share the process through which they became literate. Because of the color of their skin and the times in which they lived in, becoming literate was not an easy task.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Exceptionalism In America

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The term “American” is often associated with things such as independence day, baseball, hotdogs, bald eagles, Uncle Sam, big cities, etc. Found in the New World are liberty, opportunity, equality, and freedom in abundance. All of these things scream Americana. This is our culture; it makes this country what it is. However, “American” has become less of an adjective used to describe a citizen of the US and more of a word synonymous with white.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the 19th Century, Native Americans have faced oppression from the American culture. Although free to leave, many Native Americans feel confined to their reservations, trying to cling on to the last bit of tribal culture they have left. Their culture, however, has been radically changed by the modern American culture. Sherman Alexie perfectly portrays this oppression and the plight of the Native American in Indian Killer and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Through the setting, plot structure, and characterization, Alexie uses both books to show the struggle that a modern Native American faces.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays